Sym-Bionics
by Stone-Man85
Summary: For three million years, the human race has been at the top of the evolutionary ladder. It was high time for an upgrade.
1. Are We Alone?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Goosebumps; it is the sole property of R. and Scholastic Books. Original Characters are of my own design.**

* * *

 _Some people say there is no life out there in the universe._

 _Others believe there is, and have been trying to communicate with them for some time._

 _Scientists had sent the Voyager Probe out in 1982, with a golden plaque showing details of Man, Woman, and the rudimentary sciences of Earth, along with a disc showing Earth's Arts and Music to show our world's cultures and advances._

 _The SETI Program (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) was a collective scientific search team used the_ _Arecibo Observatory to send and receive messages from beyond our stars in search of civilizations on other worlds._

 _So far… none have succeeded in getting a transmission response._

 _The challenges in searching the universe for signs of intelligent life, including their identification and interpretation, are great at best._

 _But one must wonder: if they instead came to us… what would the message be?_

 _And if so… what would become of the world we live in today now._

* * *

 **Sym-Bionics**


	2. Earth Boy's Life

**Sym-Bionics**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Earth Boy's Life; the Day the Boy Changed**

* * *

 **Earth**

 **United States of America**

 **San Francisco**

San Francisco, the City and County of the Western part of the US, was the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California, and the only consolidated City-County in California. It was both the biggest beach spot and the best tourist spot known in California, making it the most densely settled, as well as the second-most densely populated major city in the US after New York City. A popular tourist destination, San Francisco was known for its cool summers, fog, steep rolling hills, eclectic mix of architecture, and landmarks including the famous Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, the former Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary aka The Rock, Fisherman's Wharf, and its Chinatown District. It had gone by many nicknames, such as the City by the Bay, Fog City, San Fran, and Frisco, as well as its chosen older names like The City that Knows How, Baghdad by the Bay, Paris of the West, or just simply, The City.

By 2015, San Francisco was ranked high on World Livability rankings.

And it was the perfect place for heroes to be made. But this story didn't happen in the city, but by the bay.

* * *

 **Fisherman's Wharf**

The Fisherman's Wharf was a neighborhood and popular tourist attraction in San Francisco. It roughly encompassed the northern waterfront of the city. It was home to the Aquatic Park, and the Powell-Mason cable car lines that ran a few blocks away. But there were also a few abandoned warehouses that some people used for… questionable entertainment. Namely fight clubs. And one of them was being held in a warehouse hub.

* * *

 **Fight Club Hub**

The hub was filled with the sounds of crying out for the fight to start. If anyone was indifferent, they would never heard of such noise for so much violence. A loud thud was heard on the ground in the sight of where most of the action was being held. It was a cage, completely made of wire fence, and an old boxing ring; there were also sharp wire around it but nothing life threatening. A downed fighter was on the ground, looking like a buffed up grunge-rocker, as he was being dragged out by two bouncers.

Then into the ring, a little gray haired man, dressed up like a drifter, popped into the ring with a microphone in his hands. But he wasn't alone in the ring, as the challenger or champion was leaning in the corner. He was a young Caucasian boy around sixteen or seventeen, Caucasian, and was build in a small muscle structure, messy black hair combed on the left, and spiking in some spots, and had brown sharp eyes, focused on the battle ahead. He was wearing a pair of blue dirty jeans, and white sneakers, with a black sweater shirt was tucked messily in the corner, and was wearing a white watch on the right wrist.

Then the drifter, who was presumably the announcer, went to the middle of the ring as the dark-haired boy leaned in on his corner of the ring, taking a breather with his face in the shadows. The Announcer then took the microphone as he shouted in it, "Ladies and gentlemen…in all my years, I've never seen a fighter quite like this kid," he pointed at the boy.

The crowd shouted, cheering or booing at the boy from the boy's previous fight. The announcer then asked the crowd, "Are you gonna let this kid…walk away with your money?"

The crowd roared with determination at this. But then out of the crowd, a huge Asian sumo wrestler-like fellow dressed in a black and yellow sweat suit, made his way to the ring, as he roared out, "I'LL FIGHT HIM!"

The crowd roared over, as the sumo went in there as the announcer shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen, our savior!"

The boy still had his back turned as the sumo wrestler was about to punch his lights out. But before that the announcer whispered to him, "Whatever you do, don't call him 'Shorty', or hit him in the balls."

The sumo looked confused by this as he asked, "The fight rules said that 'Anything Goes'. Right?"

The announcer nodded, as he chuckled nervously, "Yeah, anything goes, but…well, he'll take it personal."

As the announcer made his way out, the bell sounded off and the fight commenced.

The sumo noticed that the champion wasn't even moving; he was just standing there with his back to him. The sumo glared and growled at this, and he just ran in there and was about to punch him from behind on the right deltoid. However, the boy climbed the cage wall, as he got high enough, causing the sumo to slam into the wall first.

The boy leapt down, crouched on the floor like a spider, as the sumo looked down at him. The boy smirked, as the sumo charged right at him, roaring, "YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE GUTS TO FIGHT LITTLE YAMA?!"

The boy arched an eyebrow, as he asked, "Little Yama? Yeah right. Was that your name before you became Gargantuan Yama?"

The sumo man roared out, as he charged at the boy, throwing his right fist at the boy. However, he jumped up, and delivered a powerful double foot kick to the face, causing him to become disoriented. As the big guy tried to right himself, the boy ran up, and grabbed the big guy's right arm, flipping over, as he put the guy in a chokehold with his own arm. He pushed at his back with his feet to add more pressure as he could to him.

The sumo grunted, as he tried to grab him with his left arm, but the boy grabbed it, and pulled at his neck with it, like he was doing with the other arm. The sumo was foaming at the mouth as, he grunted through gritted teeth, doing his best to stay conscious, "Stop… monkeying around… and fight me…!"

The boy merely shrugged, as he replied, "Okay."

He then pushed harder, as the pressure was too much for the big guy. The muscles in his arms plus the fat on him was enough to suffocate the big guy, as he finally gave in, and collapsed, stomach first, on the ground unconscious. The boy walked off the big marshmallow, as he walked back to his corner, while everyone cheered at this on a victory well done, while a few just booed.

The hobo announcer came back in, as he announced to everyone, "Ladies and gentleman, tonight's winner, and still King of the Thunder Cage…" and then pointed to the boy with his hat in his hand, as the boy slipped on a black sweatshirt, as he pushed up the sleeves to end under the elbows, "… Zack Winchell!"

Everyone either cheered or booed at this ending, as Zack just waved to them, and was allowed out.

* * *

 **Later that Night**

After Zack had collected his winnings, he was walking away from the pier, with a black backpack slipped on his back. He was smiling rather proudly, as he patted his pants' left pocket. "Tonight was a good fight," Zack told himself, as he smirked. "If Cage Matches weren't illegal, I could make a living out of this." He then smiled rather softly, as he sighed, "I just hope it's enough to help Aunt Cassie…"

"Hey, punk!"

Zack stopped, as he slowly turned around to see who it was that got his attention. And believe it or not, it was the same sumo man, but this time, he had brought along a few friends. To be more precise, gang members. And they were armed to the teeth with weapons.

The sumo guy jabbed a finger in Zack's direction, "You owe me some money, you little punk!"

Zack blinked, as he stated, "Hey, I won fair and square."

"YOU BARELY EVEN FOUGHT ME! NO ONE HUSTLES LITTLE YAMA!"

"No, I fought you; I used your physical limitations on you and I bested you," Zack explained, trying to rationalize the situation. "And I never hustled you. Most animals have a sense that allows them to know when they're outmatched." He then put his backpack down and safely scooted it aside, as he pointed out, "And you… clearly were outmatched."

The sumo guy smirked viciously, as he signaled his friends to go straight forward to him. "Yeah, well we're gonna earn all that cash back… and YOUR ASS!"

As they circled him, Zack arched an eyebrow on this, as he asked, "So you're really gonna try to gang up on someone just for money?" He then smirked, "What the heck. I didn't have a good enough workout. Let's hope these schmucks…"

But he didn't have enough time to say what he wanted to say, as the gang all charged at him. Though they had seriously underestimated this opponent, as Zack began to fight them. One guy tried to swing at Zack with a bat, but the boy blocked the arm, grabbed it, and decked the guy hard in the face, knocking him out. He grabbed the bat and swung it hard into the leg of one of the other goons, and kicked his head, knocking him out. Two more thugs tried to get at him with two blows, but he used the bat to block the weapons, as he kicked them both in the guts with his right foot, going back between the two, until they staggered back. From behind another one tried punching him, but Zack turned around quickly enough to dodge and block every blow. The last thug was rushing so it was rather sloppy, as Zack crouched down quick, and delivered a sweeping kick that swept him off the ground. And before he could get back up, Zack delivered a half-moon kick into the guy's gut, knocking the wind right out of him.

All the goons were down and out, as Zack got back up on his feet, glaring at the Sumo Man. But even after all he saw, the fat guy was still gonna go at him on it, as he roared out, "YOU THINK YOU'RE HOT STUFF, SHIT HEAD?! JUST WAIT TIL I….!"

THWACK!

The Sumo guy was down and out, as Zack had just launched the bat like a boomerang at his head. Zack picked up his backpack, as he groaned, "Happy now? Now if you please, I'd like to get home before…"

Suddenly, police sirens had sound off, as he turned and saw the flashing of red and blue atop police vehicles had pulled up and surrounded them.

Zack just sighed in annoyance, as he allowed his shoulders to slump in defeat, "… before _this_ happened."

* * *

 **Later that Night**

 **San Francisco Police Station**

After Zack and the gang had all been processed into cells, Zack was later let out due to being the one that was on the defensive. Of course, before that they kept him in a separate cell from the others; it wasn't to protect him from them but rather to protect them from him. As soon as his file was up, it showed he had been in martial art tournaments from middle to high school, and even though he was a blue belt, he was skilled enough to participate in tournaments. At the moment, Zack was clearing his belongings, but made sure the money was kept hidden. After all, he did earn it fair and square. Once he was out the door, leaning on the hood of a red Dodge Challenger, was someone who was looking in his direction that caught his eye.

She was a woman of mid or late twenties, Caucasian, short-haired brunette with brown eyes as well, and a very curvaceous hourglass figure and physically fit. She was wearing jeans, red and white sneakers, and a yellow sweatshirt that clung to her impressive chest. Her name was Cassie Winchell, the sister to Zack Winchell's mother, aunt, and legal guardian for Zack.

He sighed, knowing full well that she was worried for him, as he walked down the stairwell, as he met up with her. She got off the hood of the vehicle, as she and he were now five feet apart. He shamefully looked to her, as he sighed, "Hi, Aunt Cass."

A look of worry was on her face as she rushed him in an embrace, as she spoke in a worried tone, "Oh sweetie." She pulled back, as she cupped his face gently, "Are you okay? Please, tell me you're okay!"

Zack gently put his hand on hers, which was still on his face, as he smiled, "I'm fine, Aunt Cass. I'm okay."

Cassie sighed and smiled gently, "Oh. That's good." But then she turned furious, as she grabbed him by the ears, causing him to wince, as she screamed out, dragging him to the car, "THEN WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING, YOU KNUCKLEHEAD!?"

* * *

 **Later On**

 **SurfSide Café and Boarding**

The Red Challenger pulled over to what appeared to be a three-story San Francisco Victorian Hotel of sorts. It actually looked to be a turn-of-the-century Edwardian Mansion with classic San Francisco bay windows. It had a decorum that had the European touch and was more of a boutique hotel. The inside's interiors managed to blend very nicely with the Victorian charm of a London townhouse of sorts. It was bricked red with wooden gold trim framing it beautifully. The building was located near the ports, as well as set up in an intersection hillside for the trolley system to travel in.

As the car parked in the parallel parking area, Cassie got out and walked up the stairs to the front glass door, as Zack slowly followed, as she continued to fume out her anger, "I mean, for ten years, Kiddo, I try my best I could to raise you and your cousin, Rihoko. Have I been perfect? No. Do I know anything about children or teenagers? No! Should I have picked up a book on parenting and adolescence, male mood swings, puberty and sexual appetites for teenagers and peer pressure?!"

But once she got to the door, unlocking it, she stopped as she experienced a brain fart, realizing what she was asking, and looked at her nephew, asking "Where was I going with this? I had a point."

Zack sighed at her aunt, shaking her head. He sighed, as he sheepishly stated, "I'm sorry, Aunt Cass. I do love you."

She sighed, and then suddenly snapped out at him, as she opened the door, "WELL, I LOVE YOU TOO!"

Once they entered, the front area was a café of sorts, complete with kitchen, Wi-Fi system, cappuccino machine, and everything. However, Cassie was walking towards the counter with the donut display, as she grumbled, "I had to close up early due to your delinquency…"

"I wasn't doing anything delinquent, I answered an ad in the papers, saying they would pay anyone $1,000 to anyone who can last ten matches in a cage match," Zack explained, trying to rationalize the whole thing. But he stopped when he saw his Aunt Cassie about to eat a donut. He grabbed it out of her hands, as he stated, "And what have I and Riho told you about these things?! They'll go straight to your ass!"

"It's my comfort food," Cassie shot back. "And why do we need all that money? You work here at the café; isn't the paycheck any good?"

"The paycheck's good, the money was for you and the building," Zack argued. Cassie looked confused, as Zack managed to shoot out, "The so-called Insurance rackers. The ones that come in for their accident insurance?"

Cassie waved that away, "It's not your problem to solve, Zack."

"It is when they increase the prices just to the point we barely have enough ends meat to keep this place stable," Zack argued.

It was no secret that Cassie had gotten into trouble dealing with loan sharks on an insurance scam. To keep the place from falling apart from 'accidents', particularly the ones that they caused to happen.

Cassie walked over to Zack and places her hands on his shoulders in a supportive way. "You don't have to worry about it Zack. I know it's hard now but we'll get through it like we always do," she said with a reassuring expression and tone of voice.

Zack looked at his aunt with a surprised eyes for a moment before his anger grew as shown by a glare on his face, "How can you say that," he asked with frustration in his voice as he moved away from, and towards the counter. He looked down at the counter, his angry face hidden with the donut next to his hands as they are spread out on the counter. "They've been at us for years, raising their prices more and more, and the police aren't doing anything about it," he said as the feeling of frustration moved through him even more as he remembered how the officers in the area said they were too busy with gang violence around other parts to worry about one shop. There were even rumors that they were taking cuts from the gangs in order to turn a blind eye from their activities.

The frustration and anger became too much for Zack to handle shown by his hands balling up into fists, "It's just going to get even WORSE," he said as he banged the counter with his right fist as a means of letting the anger out the only way he knew how at that moment.

"That's what you should be worrying about Zack," Cassie said in a scolding and worrying tone of voice as she walked over and turned Zack around to face him, "Your temper is getting worse every day. I thought your martial arts training would help channel it but it's only making it stronger." Cassie had allowed Zack to take martial arts as a means of having something to help him control the anger that had started to grow as he became older along with defending himself, but even that didn't help with Zack's anger as it became worse as the years went by. "You have to get control of it if you want to get anywhere in life Zack. No one is going to give you a chance if you keep letting your anger control you."

Zack huffs at that as he turned his head away with his glare on his face as strong as ever, "Oh yeah, I'll be a big success," he replied at his aunt's comment as he headed for the stairs to his room, "Just like you are," he said half way up the stairs unaware at how of how much that hurt his aunt as she looks down in pain from her nephew's words.

* * *

 **Zack's Room**

Zack groggily entered his room, unlocking the door, as he stepped inside. He walked over to the doorway closet and turned on the lights, showcasing his studio apartment. The place was rather clean, considering a boy lived in it solely, with a balcony window case that let in the moonlight of the night. There was a three-part couch in a U formation around a coffee table, with a flat screen TV in place of a made-up stereo system.

He walked past all that and went to a three step stair way into his room, which had a sliding door to it. There in his room was a desk next to a window, with a red and black laptop, lamp, and a digital sketchpad, as well as a sketchbook. On the right wall was a bookshelf that had books, DVDs, and a few trophies depicting of martial arts tournaments. Another corner of the room showed an open door showcasing a bathroom that had a sink, toilet, bathtub, and a separate shower. And in the back corner was a two door closet, which was pretty cluttered.

Zack just merely shuffled his way to the king-sized bed, which was nestled in the back, as he plopped down on it, looking up at the ceiling in a groan, "Nice job, Zack. Why did I say that to her?" But his thoughts could only go so far, as the night had taken a toll on him, as he fell fast asleep.

* * *

 **The Next Morning**

Zack was sound asleep and sprawled all over on his bed. Dead to the world… until something jumped on him with a tremendous force. He woke up with the wind knocked out of him as he heard a young female voice, "Wake up, Zack! You're going to be late for school!"

He opened his eyes groggily and saw a twelve year old Asian girl with long black hair that went to her back, with brown eyes, and a thin but healthy frame of body. She was wearing a pink 'Hello Kitty' sweat shirt and yellow sweatpants. This was Ryhoko Winchell, Cassie's adopted daughter and cousin to Zack.

"C'mon, Zack, wake up! Don't make me pour ice water on your head again like last time," she playfully threatened.

Groggily, Zack managed to get up, as he looked at her like a zombie, with hair sticking up crazily, "Okay, okay, just get out of my room so I can get ready."

She playfully stuck her tongue out as she left and he slammed the door. He undressed and ran to his private bathroom to take a quick shower. He muttered to himself as he finished and got dressed, "Why does she have to be like that? Can't she just stay the possible cook and level-headed tie breaker between me and Cassie all the time?" He finished dressing up and was wearing what he had worn yesterday.

He grabbed his backpack, and headed down the stairs.

* * *

 **Downstairs**

He raced as fast as he could, going past some of the residents along the way. The first one was a spry old fellah in his sixties, physically fit, and slightly balding but sporting wild gray hair. He wore sunglasses, a black T-shirt, and a green and yellow trimmed hoodie jacket with shorts to match, and a pair of sunglasses keeping his eyes hidden.

Zack waved to him, "Morning, Emmett."

"Mornin', Zack," Emmet smirked, a little lecherous, as he teased, "So did you and Zoe finally pop the cherry between the two of ya?"

Zack nearly fumbled on his feet, but regained himself, as he turned around, and glared, "Does our virginity have to come into question when either one of us bump into you?"

Emmett shrugged, "I'm just tryin' to encourage you both to get it done and over with. You're only in high school for so long until college and…" But then he stopped as he thoguth seriously for a moment, causing Zack to look at him in concerned confusion. Finally, Emmett spoke up, "but then again, she is a bisexual, isn't she? And she's got that girlfriend livin' with her in her apartment, right?"

Zack always disliked the argument about his friend's sexuality. He didn't care if Zoe was a bisexual, he just hated everyone thinking she was some kind of leper because of that. Finally, Zack grumbled, as he asked, "Yeah?"

"Does the girlfriend like ya," Emmett asked.

Zack seemed surprised by that, as he answered, "Well, I wouldn't know if she disliked me, but yeah, we're on friendly terms."

But then Emmett had a lecherous smirk on his face, "Well, maybe if things go right… you could have a threesome. Maybe even a foursome if you include that hottie, Natasha."

Zack grumbled at the lecherous man's suggestion of a massive harem scheme, "I think Natasha already has a boyfriend. And I need to get going." And then ran down the stairs.

But Emmett just shouted back, "JUST THINK ABOUT IT! YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE; A BOY'S ROMANCE IS A PRECIOUS THING; DON'T WASTE IT!"

Downstairs, he raced through the café, racing past the other tenants. One was a big burly Hawaiian fella that was big and bulky, but wasn't fat, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, blue shorts, and black sandals. He had a black Mohawk of sorts that looked like rooster head feathers, a mustache and beard shaved on him, and a calm and relaxed look on his face. He was called Big Mikey, and nobody knew what was on about him.

Another person was a young Asian woman of twenty herself, slim and cute with a shy nature all over her. She had black long hair, brown eyes, and dressed in gothic Lolita attire. She was fiddling with what appeared to be fortune-telling sticks, and seemed to pay only attention to them. Her name was Nanami, a local fortune teller, resident of the apartment complex, and an overall shy person around people.

At the moment, Ryhoko was helping her mom with the cooking for the customers before she had to go to school, while Zack raced past them. Ryhoko spotted him bolting to the door, as she called out, "Hey, Zack! Stay a little; we got…" but he was out of there, and racing down the stairs and to the sidewalk. Realizing he was gone, Ryhoko sighed defeated, "… breakfast."

"Leave him be, Ryhoko," Cassie stated, not turning her back to see Zack's form as he raced up the sidewalk hill, and disappear. "Besides, even if we did have breakfast, we'd get into an argument like last night."

"You mean about the one with him fighting for money," Emmett stated, as he walked downstairs. This caused Cassie and everyone to turn to him, as he sat down, as he replied. "Yeah, I knew about it."

"Well, actually…" Nanami spoke up, shying into her sticks, "We all knew about it."

Cassie was shocked about this, as she interrogated, "Then why the hell didn't anyone tell me about this?! I could have stopped all this!"

"We needed that money, Mom," Ryhoko stated, looking at her mom with a silent scolding as her mom turned to her in shock. "Zack brought it up with the article, and we all pitched in to help. He knew the risks on it, but he did it anyway because of the insurance loan sharks!"

"Et to, Daughter," she murmured, but then shook her head, as she stubbornly stated, "Look, we're fine! We keep up the payments to those brutes! Zack keeps rushing in to beat the heck out of them, and that only makes things worse!"

"He only does those things because he's trying to do the right thing," Ryhoko nearly cried out. It was visibly shown that she was becoming distressed on this, as she nearly cried out, "Why are you the only one being stubborn about this?!" And then just ran off, heading to the stairs to get ready for school.

The adults were all left, while Cassie was the only visible one shocked about this. But she huffed, as she sighed, "I know why he's doing all this. I just wish he didn't have to go out there and get himself hurt."

But Emmett sighed, as he sat at the bar, stating, "You can't stop him, Cass. The boy's not gonna be a boy for the rest of his life, and he's doing his damnest to showcase all that." He then finished, as he pointed out the window, "All that he can do is prepare himself for whatever life throws at him, and he's trying to prepare for the worse when those sharks decide to up the price of their 'insurance'. I know it's a hopeless cause, but the truth is he's always been the one trying to protect everyone. He's gonna go out there and fight if he has to; he's probably gonna do that when he's in his Martial Arts Club at the high school."

Cassie looked over to the long-time tenant, and then turned away in thought. Lost in it was more like it, as she was overflowing a coffee mug with more coffee than it was supposed to fill up.

* * *

 **Not Far… from the Milky Way**

Space.

It was big.

It was really, _really_ big.

So big, that nobody had yet to reach beyond the Milky Way, mostly due to the fact that Earth was way away in developing Interstellar Travel. Or even prepare for the theoretical Theory of Relativity. Basically a law that was introduced by Einstein's 1905 paper, On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, which was based on two postulates: the laws of physics are the same for all observers in uniform motion relative to one another. But the main theory was the Speed of Light: in a vacuum is the same for all observers, regardless of their relative motion or of the motion of the light source. Basically, time in traveling through space wasn't synchronized on one world, and when one day passed on Earth, more years went by. So to simplify, if you left earth one day traveling through deep space, it would take you years to get back… and once you did get back, it would be the day after you had left. Really confusing, isn't it?

For it wasn't a factor to what was in Deep Space, reaching the ridge of the Milky Way.

It was a giant golden yellow spaceship, with two wings, and a heel-based front of the ship, with rims on the back, powered by five engines. It also had an enlarged bottom in the rear, making it a cargo vessel of sorts. But the more bizarre thing about it, was that it wasn't from Earth.

* * *

 **Inside the Ship**

 **Cockpit/Bridge**

The lifeforms that were at the bridge, piloting the ship, were in fact humanoid. Except for the fact that they had green skin instead of peach or tanned skin, and that they had scale-like markings or beauty marks on their cheeks, a few on their foreheads, and those who were bald had ridges on the top sides of their heads. They each wore a black skin-tight suit that covered their entire bodies from neck to feet, or they had their arms revealed, and some with a gown tail to them. They had boots, knee and elbow pad guards, as well as forearm and back hand guards as well, each with a distinct color.

One of them, obviously the captain-leader, was male, with a small shaved Mohawk on his head colored blue, blue eyes, and had a dark blue to his armor pieces, and small muscle build. He was currently putting down a captain's log, "Captain's Log, Star date 2016 of the Galactic Date. My people are at war. A war that has been raging for nearly centuries. Our opponents, the Bruut, recently achieved dominance after decades of deadlock; we are losing a war we never had a chance, and I fear that if we don't repel them, other worlds will be next. This system included. My crew and I have been charged with the missing of seeking aide in neighboring galaxies, hoping to seek out the outer rim colonies for help. With us, we have a cargo of our people's greatest find. Hopefully, this will turn the tide."

He sighed, as he continued, "My crew and I are taking a short route through one of the lesser-advanced galaxies in order to avoid detection by Bruut outposts. I can only hope the Bruut haven't reached this far."

"Sir," one of the female pilots spoke up, getting his attention. "We're picking up the presence of an unidentified vessel."

"Put it on screen," he ordered.

On the vid screen before them, they saw a new ship had appeared near an asteroid field. It was insect in its appearance, brown, and did not look friendly. This was a scout ship sent by the Bruut. But from the look of it, it appeared to be not heavily armed. The purpose of such a ship was to alert war ships of the enemy's presence. They rarely ever actually engaged in battle. Which led the green humanoids the question why this one made its presence unknown. All the more reason why the captain wasn't going to wait to find out.

The captain, including one other male with orange and a female in magenta stood together. They walked out of the bridge and headed for the side hatch of the ship, almost waiting for it to open. The captain then ordered up, "Suit up."

Suddenly, something unexplainable happened.

Suddenly, their suits began to turn black and almost polymorphic, as their clothing melted and then began encasing their bodies in its gooey black substance. It slithered up and down their bare skin, linking and wrapping around their flesh, all over their bodies. They didn't seem to panic but rather like it was the norm for them as they were calm, as the black slime oozed and slunked its way up to their hands, wrapping them in a thick web-like pattern, wrapping their hands and encasing their fingers. It encased all over their bare skin, encasing their whole bodies, forming all around, like a tight full body spandex suit that clung to them, as it finished by encasing their heads. Then suddenly, they each began to form different colors of body armor; the leader with blue, the other orange, and the female magenta.

Until finally, they stood at the ready not in clothing, but each in a full body armor suit of their own.

The leader had a full black body suit with blue armor. He had round shoulder guards, a band on each bicep, and two diamond shaped forearm guards with rectangular back hands, and rings on the knuckles. There were two rib-side guards that started at his armpits and ended at the end of his ribs, with a chest plate with two white horizontal lines in the middle of his pecks, a circular collar guard, two tubes going up from his collar bone to his neck. Two circular hip guards on the sides of his hips, with two outer thigh guards with white glowing circles, circular shield guards on his knees, and leg guards, with toe and heel guards on his feet, with the toes having a half-circle mark glowing. On his back was a circular pack with two white vents sticking out on the side. His head was encased in an armored helmet, with ear guards with two white glowing circles, side mouth guards, only showing the black still covering his face, but with a glass visor in front, showing off two white glowing eyes.

His partner was in an orange armor with the same black skin-tight under-armor, with bulky rectangular shoulder guards with grey black lines on top, his forearms were in rectangular bulky guards with his hands in orange mitts with the index fingers and thumbs released. Two square points on his hips, a triangular armored chest with two black lines on the side of the pectoral region glowed, with triangular neck guards, and on his back was a rectangular backpack with a V-shaped vent opened up in the middle. His forelegs were encased in orange armor guards, with square-shaped boots, with two black lines on the sides of the boots, and square knee guards. His helmet was a diamond-shaped helmet, with rectangular ears with black squares in the center, and had light orange eyes glowing in front.

The female had a slick magenta armor with the same black skin-tight under-armor. Hers was more of the design of an angel-based armor, with a smaller slim backpack shaped like a hexagon with the bottom into dark purple vents. Her breastplate clung to her chest, but exposed her cleavage, with a circle on her collar bone connected to magenta tubes, and on the breasts were horizontal lines colored dark purple. Her shoulders were unarmored, but from her biceps to hands, they were covered in magenta armor, with triangle shaped patters on the forearms and back hands, which had triangular shaped hand guards. She had two magenta line metal plates on her hips, with her legs from outer thigh to lower inner thigh and ankles covered in magenta armor, with two big dark purple triangle patters on the outer thighs, on her triangular knee guards, and she had high-heel boots with dark purple patterns on the toes. Her helmet was much like a roman helmet with a smaller top, with triangular shaped ear guards, with the bottoms facing her face, a nose guard splitting her eyes from her mouth, and a dark purple visor with two purple eyes glowing.

The leader spoke in a mechanic echoed voice, "Open the Hatch."

* * *

 **Next Chapter: The Harsh Life of a Teen; Alien Suit's Make the Man**


	3. The Harsh Life of a Teen

**Sym-Bionics**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: The Harsh Life of a Teen; Alien Suit's Make the Man**

* * *

 **Outside the Ship**

The hatch opened, as the three armored occupants leapt out and turned to face the enemy head on. At the moment, the enemy's ship opened up a compartment on the rooftop. What crawled out were beings too horrifying to behold. They were giant behemoths possibly about 7-8 feet in height, heavily muscled, with all over their body brown exo-skeletons that made them look like giant humanoid insects. Their fingers were clawed blades, big as knives, as well as their toes. There were hair-like structures sticking out of their backs, acting like feelers.

These were the Bruut: a brutal race of warriors and planetary conquerors. As well as the enemies of the Geranian people.

At the moment, the three Geranians that were suited up, launched into the blackness and battle-ridden space between the ships.

The Bruut swarmed right at them, roaring with the vicious intent of animals, unaffected by the vacuum of space. And then, they collided, in a tidal wave of armor and exo-skeleton. The armored aliens managed to fly circles around them, as their forearms sclorped, morphing either arm-mounted cannons, forearm cannons, blaster fingers, or palm blasters. They began firing and flying circles around the Bruut. However, their armor was too tough for the blasts, as they just scuffed their exoskeletal bodies. They seemed to laugh at this, in a rather bestial sort of way. Some of them sprouted arm-mounted claws out of their elbows, and others extended their claws to the size of swords, and then flew down to attack the trio.

The orange one looked up, and saw that they charged at him. He fired away as best he could, but tore away from the group. The Blue one shouted, "What are you doing?!"

"Leading them away, or as many as I can," the orange warrior replied, as he fired at them. "Just try to get back to the shi…"

KE-SCHNIKT!

The orange warrior went wide eye, as a few Bruut Warriors dived down on him, and stabbed him through. His suit began to convulged, shooting out tentacles wrapping around the warriors, as it grabbed them. Suddenly, shoulder-mounted cannons formed, and fired right at the Bruut, but in the process only singed the outer shell not doing that much damage to them. Their chests opened up, as they pulled him closer, as he screamed out in either terror or in a battle cry. However, it was over soon enough as the sounds of flesh and crunching bones were heard, as they tore him apart and ate him whole, suit and all. A fragment of the suit attempted to squirm away, but one of the Bruut warriors grabbed it and slurped it down like a ramen noodle.

The Magenta-suited warrior cried out, "No!" And then flew faster, firing away at the Bruut.

The leader shouted, "No! We need to stay together! Toa! Stop!"

The warrior known as Toa screamed out, firing with scifi-styled gattling guns forming from her arms, as she fired with extreme prejudice. She managed to blow off a few arms and legs from the Bruut but managed to do so with the hinges. Hitting the ear-like eyes also did some good, as they were flailing around blindly. However, before she could form blades, she was suddenly tackled and swarmed over by the Bruut warriors. They clawed at the armor, but began to fly back to the ship.

The Blue warrior flew as he stopped, seeing that they were taking her to the ship. He realized what was happening, "They got Toa! Hang on, I'll get you…!"

"No, Zhan, don't," Toa radioed back. "Just head back to the ship, and get out of here!"

"But you know what the Bruut do to females," Zhan called back. Unlike most species, the Bruut used the females of other species to reproduce until their Queen was ready for mating and egg-laying. It helped increase their numbers fast in battle. But as a result, the female host was immediately killed after birth… not surviving at all.

"I know," Toa called out, as she was being taken to the ship, with the other Bruut following after. Clearly in heat of the female around. "What's important is getting the symbiotes back." She then whispered, "I'm sorry about this."

 _It's okay. It has been an honor serving you, Toa._

Suddenly, the lights on her armor blinked, as a humming timer sound was being made, as the Bruut made it to the ship. The humming timer was heard louder, as she was taken into the ship, as the Bruut entered on, throwing her onto the ground, as they began to shred the suit off, exposing her green naked body underneath, even while the suit tried to reform itself back on its user. However, the lights lit even brighter, as the humming reached a higher pitch.

Outside, Zhan looked at the ship, a worried look on his face was shown on his armor's faceplate. Suddenly, the ship began to crunch and suck in on itself, like a balloon having all the air sucked out. Suddenly, it exploded in a massive bright light, destroying the ship, and more swarming Bruut flying back to the ship, taking them all with them. But once the light died down, there was nothing left but debris and tidbits of the Bruut's bodies floating endlessly around the blackness of space.

Zhan lowered his head, as he sighed, "Toa… Gruud… your sacrifices will not be in vain." And then flew back to the ship.

* * *

 **Back on the Ship**

Once he entered into the ship, and retracted his helmet, he was a bit worried as nobody replied back. No one from the bridge, nobody from the engines, and nobody from the airlock, even when he got inside. He looked around as he walked down the hallway… and paled. Down the hallway, blue blood was all over the walls and floors, as well as the half-remain bodies of his crew.

"Oh no," he paled, as he held his right forearm. "Symbiote. How many Bruut are aboard the ship."

 _Only one_ a voice spoke up, as his forearm morphed a holographic map of the ship, showcasing black blips: all dead. But only one red blip at the bridge.

Zhan raced as fast as he could to the bridge. His fears were in that they would find the cargo and fast, as he got to the Bridge. He opened the door, as he saw the Bruut, feasting on the flesh of one of the dead males. It looked at Zahn, surprised, as it roared out, as Zhan's right forearm turned into a cannon… but the Bruut charged in first, piercing the left lung, and side of Zhan with his claws.

Zhan coughed up blood, as he glared at the snarling and drooling Bruut Warrior, "I'm… I'm not done yet."

Suddenly, black and blue tendril sharp tips shot up like eight spider legs, and stabbed into the beast, causing it to roar out. The legs then pulled the creature, up, as he used both his arms to morph into blades as he sliced it at the waist, cutting it in two. Brown and green goo splattered the floor, as the tendrils flew him away, as the upper half skittered into a corner, as Zhan hopped to a control console.

He immediately looked at the cameras, and saw in the cargo hold. In it, shelves upon shelves of small lunchbox-sized cylinders were in place, like eggs in the supermarket. Zhan sighed, "Thank the Makers, the cargo's still intact." He winched as he held his left side, still bleeding out.

"Symbiote, how much time do I have left," Zhan asked.

 _If you were to rest, I could heal you in no time without interruptions. But to do that, will require three days of rest…_

"No, we don't have time," Zhan weakly said, as he sat at the control console, typing commands. "That was a scout ship. If that wasn't far from here, more Bruut will come. We can't risk this cargo falling into their hands." He looked at the nav-console, as he asked, "Is there a nearby habitable world?"

"Only in the Milky Way Galaxy. There is a world third from its sun that is capable of supporting life," the console computer reported, as it made a holographic map of the Milky Way Galaxy. It then made a zoom up of the Sun and its third world, "The world is called Earth."

"Are there any civilized lifeforms," Zhan asked, holding his still bleeding side.

"Yes. They are called Earthlings, Terrans, more commonly known as Humans," the computer replied. "They are a level 3 based technological society. They have only been able to achieve space travel that can only reach the worlds in their system. But nothing further."

Zhan sighed, as he nodded, "We have no choice. Head to this world called Earth."

The ship suddenly came alive, as the engines roared, and blasted its way to the Milky Way Galaxy, making its way to the small blue planet that could at least give them an edge.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

 **Earth**

 **San Francisco**

 **Bay Beach High School**

Bay Beach High School was a vast two story high school. Not enough to be big enough to be as big as a city, but it had its own track and swimming pool, which was inside. It even had its own security system, what with the crime rates of San Francisco. At the moment, the students were going in, as Zack was among them that was in the crowd.

Zack was at his locker getting his books and took a quick look in the mirror before closing the door. Leaning next to his locker was a young man around his age. He was a Caucasian sixteen year old with blonde hair cut to a spikey buzz cut that had it combed forward, and with small glasses barely covering his green eyes. He was wearing a yellow T-shirt underneath a green hoodie with the sleeves rolled up, blue jeans, and black shoes, and had a piercing on his left ring. But his most distinguishable feature was his prosthetic left arm, very articulate and functional to a real arm up to his shoulder. His name was Reggie Nimitz, a joker, hacker, and dear friend of Zack Winchell.

He leaned on the side of his locker, as he smirked to his friend, "Z Man."

Zack nodded, "Reggie. How long have you been there?"

"Not that long," Reggie answered, as he stood back up, and asked his friend, "So… is today going to be that day or what?"

Zack arched an eyebrow, as he asked, "What day are you talking about?"

"He's referring to you and Natasha," a new voice spoke out.

The two boys looked to see an African American male of sixteen, lean build with short dreadlocks for hair, brown eyes, and he wore brown jeans, red and white shoes, a white shirt with a red and yellow jacket on top. This was Virgil, another friend of Zack and Reggie, as he walked up to them waving. "Is today the day you finally sweep her off her feet?"

Zack was a bit unsure on that, as he scratched the back of his head, and sighed, "Well I'm not sure. I mean I haven't really-"

"I told you! There are no morning shifts in the cafeteria," a new voice boomed over, getting all three's attention. Suddenly, someone got thrown out of the cafeteria in a comical way.

He was a seventeen year old fellow with tanned skin, dark brown hair, brown eyes, a medium sized body with a slight beginning of a round stomach, but not too big. He was wearing brown cargo pants, yellow boot shoes, a yellow t-shirt, black fingerless gloves and a green vest. His name was Hank Lebain, a good friend of Zack's as he was the giant with a gentle heart.

One of the cafeteria staff just stated, "You have to wait until lunch to eat now get to class!" And then closed the door.

Hank got up, patting himself, as he groaned, as his friends walked up to him, "Sorry. Yeesh I was just giving some ideas. No need to get your hair nets in a knot."

"I take it your idea for morning cafeteria hours was turned down," Reggie asked, smirking at his friend's tenth failed attempt.

"Looks more like thrown out," Virgil commented.

Hank smirked at his friends, "Oh hey guys. What's going on?"

Virgil pointed to Zack, as he answered, "Zack here's getting ready to ask Natasha to the dance."

Zack went wide eye, as he blabbered, "Wait, what? No, I'm-"

"Best to play it safe," Hank advised, as he went on. "I mean if you blow this, there could be some major consequences. I mean you two have been friends for years. She may say no which could be her way staying friends which is also rejection. If that happens, your confidence with girls may take a plummet, you could develop the fear of being rejected by every girl to the point of giving up, and go through high school and life after as a bachelor until you-."

"Okay, okay, I get it. Thanks, Hank," Zack stopped him, knowing Hank would go on and on about it, as he looked to everyone. "Look, it's not like I'm asking her to marry me or anything. I just figured she would rather go with someone she's comfortable with than going alone."

Reggie smirked, as he pointed, "Well here comes your chance." They saw the girl in all the talk about, as she was putting up a sign on the billboard.

Natasha was a Caucasian young girl around Zacks' age, with clear skin and slender build. She had red hair that shined when the light it her, with her bangs combed to the right and the hair touching her shoulders, daring to tickle them with just the slightest brush, and green eyes that were brilliant emeralds. She had a slim waist, slender legs, gentle but rough-looking hands that hid hard work behind them, and a D-Cup bust that was too hard not to see. She wore black tight jeans with black sneakers, a dark blue V-neck like shirt that had a hard time trying not to show off her impressive cleavage, and a gray jacket with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. This was Natasha Xanders, student, hall monitor, and daughter of one of the finest cops of San Francisco, as well as a dear childhood friend of Zack's.

Before Zack could talk back to Reggie, Virgil nudged him, as he asked, "Yo, Let's hear that strong rap you're gonna drop on her."

sighing in defeat, Zack shook himself loose, as he recited what he was going to say to Natasha, "Okay, here it goes. 'Well Natasha, we've known each other for a long time now and... Instead of skipping it or going stag, I was kinda wondering if you would do me the honor of-'…"

But he was interrupted, as the trio groaned, while Virgil commented, "Snores-Ville, bro. 'Do me the honor?'"

Even Reggie had to agree with that, as he sighed, "Yeah, you sound like a form letter that Hank wrote for the cafeteria to have a breakfast menu."

"Actually that sounds like my request to help the cafeteria ladies with their cooking," Hank corrected. "I never sent it in though since I figured they turn it down."

Virgil shook his head, as he looked to Zack, "Anyway Zack, that's not gonna cut it with-" But then stopped, as he and everyone else acted like nothing happened, as Natasha was coming their way, "Oh hey, Natasha."

She stopped as she walked up to them, "Hey guys. Good news, the principal gave us the okay to put up the decorations for the dance early this year. No more pressure to have it done the day of like the past ones."

Virgil nodded, "Oh yeah, one less thing for us all to worry about."

Hank nodded, as he sighed heavily in relief, "Oh that's a relief, because whenever we have to finish it in less than a day, we always rush through everything," He then made the various listings of everything that went wrong, "The punch doesn't come out right, half the decorations fall off half way through, and there was that one year the loud speakers played-"

But Reggie put a stop to it, as he stated, "Oh, look at us. Hank, Virgil, and I have to get to class. We gotta go. Good luck with your test Zack." He and Virgil went down the hall, pushing Hank with them, as the big guy looked confused, leaving Zack and Natasha behind.

He even voiced his confusion, as Hank asked, "Uh guys, class is in the other direction. Guys? Guys!" But they kept pushing him away from the two, leaving them both behind.

Left alone with her, Zack did his best to break the ice with Natasha, as he began, "Hi. So... Are you-"

"Where were you last night, Zack? I tried calling you but no one was home," Natasha stated, as she looked a little miffed about his absence. But smirked, "I've been dying to talk to you about homecoming."

"Oh I was a... Out for a run and needed a ride home," Zack lied. The last thing he wanted was for her to know anything about his late-night unofficial job. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Yeah, I need your advice. You know Cliff the quarterback," Natasha asked, getting a nod from Zack, as she explained. "I heard he wants take me to the dance. But David also left a voice message on my phone yesterday and Zoe said Seth Gray wanted my phone number." She looked excited and flattered, as she smiled, "Isn't it wild? I have three popular guys asking me out."

Zack, feeling like an idiot for "Oh yeah, that's great. But you know... Hot isn't everything. In some circles wit and well... offbeat charm can still count for a lot."

Natasha didn't look impressed, as she leaned on one of the lockers, putt her hands behind her back, and looked away, as she smirked, "Yeah, but the truth is… I'm turning them down."

Zack nearly went bug-eyed at that, as she asked, "What? But why? I thought you said you'd be glad to have so many offers instead of not going at all."

Natasha eased her friend down, as she explained, "Don't get me wrong, I'm really flattered that I was asked out at all, especially by people in the popular crowd, but dances aren't really my thing. That's what I need help with. I'm not sure how to turn them down if they don't take no for an answer. Any ideas?"

Zack, unable to fathom on his chance with his luck at this moment, managed to get enough courage to speak out, as he began to suggest, "Well I... I may have one idea. But you know, I think you would really enjoy the dance, and... Well I was wondering if you would do me the hono-"

"Hey Natasha."

A new voice spoke up, as the two looked to see someone making their way towards them. He was a Caucasian of seventeen, with a build much thicker than Zack's but was also as slim as Zack. His hair was red and spiked back, with a small goatee of red on his chin, blue eyes that glared dangerously at anybody that would push him far. He had a red t-shirt, brown pants that hung off him barely with his grey underwear showing, and black and red sneakers. His name was Francis Stone, or F-Streak as his street handle was: a bully at the school, tormentor of Zack and his friends, as well as a pain in the neck trying to make a name for himself

"You're lookin' good," he said with a smirk, as he pushed Zack aside, closing the gap between himself and a nervous Natasha, as he sniffed, "Smell good too. If you need someone for the dance, I'm available as well, especially afterwards."

Natasha frowned at his advancement, as she answered, "Thanks, but I'm not going."

"You heard her F-Streak," Zack defended, as he stood behind the redhead, who turned to face him. Zack then half-smirked, "Plus her body language is making it loud and clear. Not in this life time."

Getting t-off at the moment, F-Streak threw Zack at the lockers hard, picked him up, and then punched him in the eye, and threw him again. Zack skidded across the floor, as F-Streak ran over to him, picked him up again and prepared to throw a powerful punch, as he smirked, "Let's see if your face can understand what my fist is saying." But before he could do so, another hand grabbed F-Streak's and threw him to the side. He looked up to see another new face, as did Zack.

He was a big African American of F-Streak's build and age. Wearing a white shirt, green jacket, blue jeans, black shoes, and had a green bandana on his head. He glared down at F-Streak with his brown eyes. His name was Wade, and although he was an improvement on F-Streak, he wasn't a good guy to hang around… unless you were in his gang.

"Yo, I know you're not sweating my man Zack, Franklin," Wade sneered at F-Streak, using his real name.

F-Streak picked himself up, as he held his hands in defense, "Nah Wade, we were just playing."

At the time, Natasha ran over to Zack and helped him up to his feet. "You all right Zack," she asked, deeply concerned for him.

Zack groaned as he rubbed the back of his neck, sporting a new black eye, "Yeah, thanks."

at the moment, F-Streak walked passed the two, getting the message Wade had left. But as he did so, he eyed the black-eyed boy, as he whispered, "Catch you later, Zack." And was off, leaving the two behind, as Wade went his way.

* * *

 **After School**

Zack was walking home with Hank, Reggie, and Virgil. All around the time, they had been wondering what had happened and Zack had told them the whole ordeal. Especially with F-Streak and Wade showing up. It seemed that Zack couldn't catch a break in any way possible. Though as they were walking, they weren't aware that someone was following them, as Zack finished his daily tale of current events.

"So by the time he left, the bell rang for class to start, and Natasha was gone before I could ask again," Zack finished.

Virgil shook his head, as he stated the obvious, "Harsh, man. You would have been on cloud nine right now if F-Steak hadn't mess things up for you."

Reggie nodded, "Yeah man. She basically said she was asking you to ask her out."

Zack shook his head, not believing that it was even remotely possible, "No she didn't. She asked for help turning down the guys who asked her."

"Zack's right," Hank defended, as he went through the list. "Why would she want to go out with Zack? Except they have been friends for a long time. She wouldn't have any candidates to go with which she is turning down. But she would have to drop a hint at Zack to get him to ask..." but then went wide eye as he smirked, realizing it all. "Which she might have been doing by asking him for help with turning down the offers." He grabbed Zack, as he shouted, "ZACK! YOU HAVE A SHOT AT HER!"

"Whoa hang on, guys," Zack assured them, as he broke free of Hank and went ahead, walking backwards as he continued to talk to them, face-to-face. "Is Hunk actually saying what I think he's-" But Zack was interrupted when he bumped into something. Or someone. "Oh sorry about that-" Zack apologized, as he turned to see two of Wade's gang shooting glare at Zack and his friends. One of them being Duke, a big chubbier brawler of an African American.

"Wade wants to talk to you," he said, singling Zack out of the group. "Now."

But before Zack could answer, Reggie walked up to him, as he advised him, "I wouldn't, bro. You know what usually happens to those who go see Wade."

Virgil then stepped up, as he stated, defending his friend, "Besides, if he has something to say, he can say it too all of us."

But Zack noticed the looks in the gang members' eyes and knew what it may mean if he said no. Before Hank could say anything, Zack spoke up, "It's fine. I never had the chance to say thanks to Wade for saving my bacon anyway." He looked to his friends, as he waved later, "I'll call you later, guys." And just like that, he walked off with the gang members, leaving his uncertain and worried friends behind.

* * *

 **Later On**

 **Wade's Hangout**

Wade's hangout was located in an abandoned bridge station near the shoreline of the first bridge beam. Wade had found it years ago, and since then had made it his hangout and territory. As he was walking behind the gang members, Zack went into thinking mode on what to do once Wade needed to see him, 'No big deal. Just go in, say thanks, listen to what he has to say, turn him down politely, and leave. Easy.' He then saw Duke show him the way in and walked towards the door. He was pushed in by Duke, as he saw the room, but then looked to Duke, "Gee it's such a nice day out. Seems like a waste to be in doors today of all days."

at a table, Wade and his gang were all playing cards, but as Zack spoke up Wade turned around to see him. He got up from his card game, as he smirked, walking towards Zack with open arms, "Welcome to our crib, Zack."

"Cozy," Zack stated flatly. "This place should be featured on that magazine This Old Warehouse."

Wade chuckled at that, as he patted Zack roughly on the back, "Heh. I like you, Zack. You're funny, and smart. But keeping Franklin off your back is taking too much of my time."

"And I appreciate it. Which is why I came to say thanks for today," Zack thanked him, but then got serious. "But I didn't ask for your help, Wade."

that got the gang ruffling around with gossip as a scrawny hood member stated, "You hear that?"

A female gang member, stated, "He's dissing you, Wade."

A Mexican member stated, "He must a crazy mustachos."

Another female member nodded, "Word."

But Zack threw his hands in defense, as he explained, "I mean no disrespect. I just don't want Wade getting in trouble with the teachers because of Franklin choosing to bully me."

"That punk Franklin is looking for street cred," Wade stated, as he looked at Zack seriously. "One day he's going to catch you out there and I won't be around. Sick dude like him, who knows what he'll do off school grounds."

Zack nodded, "I figured he'd get bored of me after a while and go terrorize a tank or something."

"This is no joke, Zack," Wade stated, as he explained, "The whole letting beat on you until he's bored trick won't work. The only way you can save your skin... is to roll with my crew."

Zack was shocked at that last part of joining a gang, as he asked, pointing to himself, "Me? You don't want me. I'm nothing but skin and bones compared to all of you. I'd be just an easy target for the other gangs to use against you."

Wade smirked, as he explained, "Don't front me, Zack. I'm offering life insurance for you and your friends. If you're part of my crew, F-Streak will back off quick. He ain't looking to tangle with this posse and he'll know better than to mess with friends of a crew member." All the gang members backed up Wade's claims.

Zack sighed, knowing that it was gonna be tough, as he pulled away from Wade, and stated, "I understand what you're saying. But I'm not a fighter. Heck if I can be beaten by F-Streak that easily, how useful could I be to your gang?"

one of the gang members, a chinese scrawny guy, smirked, "Seems you are a fighter after what I saw last night. You stood your ground and came on top at the Fight Club at the wharf last night. You even took pounded Little Yama and his gang in and out of the ring."

Zack nearly paled, as he denied the best he could, "That couldn't have been me. I didn't even know there was a fight club here. I'll have to take a look to see how the fights on."

"Oh yeah that was you. I'm sure there are tons of guys who are named Zack Winchell," the Chinese gang member smirked, as he pulled out his cell phone and played back a video of Zack in the cage match. Zack became stunned as he tried to come up with something as the video continued to afterwards to the fight outside along with the police arresting them. "For the record, you may want to try and use a stage name and mask next time you don't want to be found out."

"I have some of my crew watch the fights every now and then," Wade answered, as Zack looked at Wade again, "To see if there are any fighters who would make good members. But I'm thinking of your survival rather than your skills. You may not want to use them on school grounds, but if Franklin does attack you and you win, he'll either come back in greater numbers or start going after your friends. It seems more like we'll both be benefitting from this deal if that's the only excuse you have left."

At this time, Zack became hardened, as he seriously stated, "Fighting won't get me through school or through life." He then looked to Wade and the others, as he stated seriously, "Look, thanks for the help before and the offer, but you're getting the raw end of this deal with a bad member like me. You can just look the other way the next time you see Franklin pounding me." And then he was off to leave the room, giving up on the deal for good.

but then the Chinese guy then threw in an ultimatum, "I wonder what would hurt more: F-Streak turning you to mulch every day, turning down Wade's generous offer, or the school learning about your after school activities?" Zack stopped at the door with a look of shock all over his face with his back to the group. "Bet the higher ups wouldn't be too pleased about your night gigs at the ring. They'd either make you stop, use that to make your school like a living hell, or kick you out of school."

Wade walked up to Zack's back, hiding his smirk knowing that he got Zack hooked, "So what do you say, Zack? You in.. or out?"

However, at the moment, Zack's shocked face had hardened cold into a look of steely determination, and anger. His eyes opened up, revealing them sharp and concentrating, as he calmly stated, "I'm in. but it seems like there's no choice in this, is there?"

Wade and everyone smirked, as he replied, "No choice, bro."

* * *

 **Next Chapter: The Night it All Changed; Awaken with a New… Friend?**


End file.
